Greetings from an eternal lurker! I could facetiously introduce myself as the person responsible for Mark Dakins' 20 inch dobsonian, and Rich Tenney's 16. I say this because I think I'm the one who got Rich connected with Mark several years ago, which obviously led to the 'aperture envy' between the two of them. As a result, I have been able to enjoy their excellent scopes at star parties, and at the same time keep my astronomy budget at a minimum! :-) At any rate, I just wanted to share with the group my pleasure in the latest version of 2sky for Palm OS. I'm sure many of you are aware of this excellent star chart program. Well, today Kevin posted an upgrade that includes an earth shadow feature, allowing precise prediction and simulation of the lunar eclipse tonight! And with stormy weather in the forecast, a good simulation may be the next best thing. He recently added comets and meteor showers as well. I've been using it for years and it just keeps getting better. Ran good enough on my old IIIxe; runs really great on my T3. Be assured my enthusiasm for it is purely as a satisfied user. By and large I am a free software user, but the modest price for 2sky has been more that worth it for me. Kevin's web site is http://2sky.org/ On a side note, with this earth shadow feature, showing earth's umbral and penumbral shadows as concentric circles against the celestial sphere, I wonder if an observer could get a slightly better view on faint deep sky objects when they are in earth's shadow? Warm regards, Quinn Jensen